Tottenham Hotspur head into Sunday's clash with Sunderland having not lost to the Black Cats in their last 15 Premier League meetings, stretching back to April 2010.
A positive result, considering that recent record, should be a probability in any normal season, although a normal season this is not, with the Lilywhites having not won at all in the league since late December.
There were whispers that a certain Sean Dyche might be parachuted in to save the day, although it is Roberto De Zerbi who has been tasked with reviving the club's fortunes, even while having been more 'arsonist than firefighter' in his previous posts, in the words of journalist John Brewin.
Without kicking a ball under the Italian, the north Londoners have slipped into the relegation zone, while the latest injury setback for Mohammed Kudus has only added to the selection headache as far as the end of the season is concerned.
Spurs injury news after De Zerbi press conference
The Lilywhites are already without the fellow long-term absentees, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, while Rodrigo Bentancur is also not yet ready to return, despite having been stepping up his recovery at N17.
A further blow for De Zerbi is the news that starting 'keeper, Guglielmo Vicario, is also not in contention following his recent hernia surgery, ensuring that Antonin Kinsky could be in line for his first start since that night away in Madrid.
There are also doubts regarding Pape Matar Sarr's involvement, after the midfielder sustained a shoulder injury while playing for Senegal during the international break.
On the positive front, however, both Lucas Bergvall and Mathys Tel are firmly back in contention after featuring heavily in first-team training this week, with the latter man notably forced off against Nottingham Forest last time out due to a groin injury.
Tel, fitness permitting, is likely to be the starting option off the left flank, although perhaps the biggest issue for De Zerbi to solve is on the opposite side, following Kudus' setback.
De Zerbi could unleash Spurs' next Dele as Kudus replacement
With Kudus and Kulusevski both sidelined, and having sold last season's top scorer, Brennan Johnson, back in January, there isn't an obvious solution on the right flank heading into the trip to the Stadium of Light.
Under Igor Tudor, the Croatian deployed either Djed Spence or Pedro Porro in a more advanced role, yet neither man looks like the ideal solution, considering their status as natural full-backs.
If there is to be a more exciting solution, De Zerbi could look to the youth set-up to find his answer, with supporters itching to see more of 17-year-old sensation, Luca Williams-Barnett.
The teenager has endured his own recent injury woes, having not featured at all during Tudor's tenure, yet he was reportedly in first-team training over the past week or so.
The England youth star also teased a potential involvement on his Instagram account, with it yet to be seen whether his absence from Spurs' recent U21 clash is with a view to playing on Sunday instead.
Whether it is necessarily this weekend or not, Williams-Barnett appears deserving of a chance to impress under the De Zerbi regime, even if not a natural right-winger by trade.
He is more of a number ten, it must be said, although his solitary senior outing this season came as a left-winger against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup, highlighting his ability to operate out wide.
That has been his one and only taste of first-team football, but he's been making waves at U18 and U21 level of late, scoring and assisting 13 goals in just 11 games at that latter age.
In the view of GOAL journalist Sean Walsh, there are "shades of Dele" about this young rising star, with notable comparisons also made to two further mavericks of Spurs' modern era, in the form of David Ginola and Paul Gascoigne.
Dele, while signed from MK Dons in 2015, was the latest real teen sensation to blossom for the north London side, with De Zerbi now needing to be brave and throw Williams-Barnett into the mix in the present day.
Whether it is from the start or the bench, he could be something of a game-changer in this desperate situation.